mamadrama

It reminds me of being little and my mom making me hug or sit on the laps of relatives I barely knew and felt uncomfortable with. Or making me let my creepy uncle tickle me. We're allowed to say "no" to unwanted touching no matter how old we are.

So I have to stay in a hotel (Embassy Suites) for the next 3 nights. When I checked in 15 minutes ago the registration gal asked for "the card the room was reserved with." I said the whole stay was prepaid through Expedia and she said she still needed the card -but that I could use another card for incidentals. I'm always asked for a cc for incidentals, but this was the first time I was asked for the original card. She said that it's now something they've started doing with various online booking engines. She did say, though, that she could accept a different card as long as my name was on the reservation. Maybe Mike booked it under his name and didn't put Natalie down as a guest? And, yes, I came straight upstairs to tell you guys. I have no life.

Now THAT'S the real question. Lots of Seattle area hotels shut down during that tine, but you know that there had to be at least one near the airport that would've been closer and cheaper.

I live in a place where mullets are still considered the epitome of high fashion hair, and even people here would back away from those feathered 'dos.

Ah! Thank you. All these people are starting to bleed together.

That's what I thought, too. When she called and canceled she did say 'Tamara'.

There really should be some caveats. I've told my kids to always have an emergency cache, just in case, and to never travel alone to a foreign country where you're A) dependent upon another person and B) don't have the means to get out of there. I feel like we judge a lot of these people by American standards. It's difficult to get a cc in Ukraine. Average monthly salary there is only a small percentage of ours. At one point it was $400 per month and Natalie was caring for herself and for her mother.

Yeah, I'm friends with a few different couples who have been on this show. One is still a little traumatized. The pay sucks. The TLC check doesn't go very far. The longer they're on, the more they get paid, but if you broke it down to hrs of filming vs hourly pay it's barely minimum wage. I think they've got 2 things going on: they're either hoping to monopolize on their brief popularity to parlay it into their existing business (both Stephanies, Tricky Ricky, Fat David's friend, Bibi, Usman, Molly, etc) or they're hoping that it will allow them to monetize themselves do that they can start something new (Tom's sister's "coaching", Jesse, Darcey, Tim, Tarik, Annie, etc). Then you've got people who signed on for legit reasons (not looking for fame) but once they got a taste of it they can't let it go so they keep up the drama and histrionics (Libby's family, Chantal's family). The TLC pay isn't great but YouTube, OnlyFans, Cameo, public appearances, etc can be. As far as why Mike and Natalie would keep filming? My guess is it was her idea. She's trying to be an actress/YouTuber/influencer and probably thought this was her big chance. She thinks she comes across cuter and quirkier than she does. Despite his whole "aw shucks ma'am, I'm just a shy old country boy" routine, Mike's a bit of a narcissist as well. She probably didn't have to twist his arm. As for Stephanie and Ryan, she was probably like, "Come on, baby, just film with me. It's only for 2 weeks. My biz will get attention and you'll get to stay at a nice resort...I'll pay you." NONE of these people go into this with concerns about how they might look. They just assume they're awesome and will be beloved. (That's why they're all gunning for spots on Pillow Talk.)

Ukraine's borders by air closed in mid April. We had to host an author friend because they couldn't fly back. There were rumors that people could still get through the borders by bus or car. At that time, however, you could not book an airline ticket from the US to Kyiv and existing ones were not honored. Could that have been different once she got to France? Maybe.

Ukraine's borders by air closed in mid April. We had to host an author friend because they couldn't fly back. There were rumors that people could still get through the borders by bus or car. At that time, however, you could not book an airline ticket from the US to Kyiv and existing ones were not honored. Could that have been different once she got to France? Maybe.

We had people telling us that my husband's K1 should be easy and quick to get because the US and England are "friends." Nope. It had no bearing on his application. There are reasons why immigration law is a specialty. It's complicated. Now Amira had a good chance of getting hers extended because of COVID since she hadn't entered the US yet. But Julia, Zied, Yara, hazel, and Natalie did not. Once you're here that clock starts ticking. Yet another reason to get married soon after landing. You never know what could happen.

Ukraine didn't have repatriation flights for their own citizens until late June, and even then it was difficult and expensive to get on the list. Some people were stuck until early Sept. Some citizens were able to fly out of Ukraine in May, but it depended upon their home country. April sucked. Nope, she really couldn't have. Not in April.

That's a lot along the lines of what I was thinking, too. Or that they broke up but he agreed to still marry her so that she could stay in the country. Her breakdown, which I think was real, could've been because he DID back out of their agreement the night before. Like others, he acts as though the 90 days is a suggestion, not a rule. Yes, our govt is serious about that. No, the foreigners can't just stay on because you are not ready. lol, yep, no matter how we frame it, dude's still a prick.

So they married in April. I wonder at which point she moved out? August, maybe? That's when she started doing those videos and when a lot of restrictions were lifted.

I think Mike called off the wedding because he figured, hey, she can just continue to live here and be a good piece of ass for when I'm high and drunk-there's no way the government will kick her out during a pandemic! But yeah, something's screwy. Wish we could've seen the fight. That's the shit I'm watching for! Imo he kept asking for the ring back because he's not in love with her and didn't want to marry her... Which he knew before she landed.

That was my point. They returned to Mike's NOT because of the credit card thing but because he'd agreed to marry her. The hotel/cc was an excuse.

My take: Tamara called Mike, told him about the hotel situation, and he did some reading and realized that Natalie really could not return to her country. When he called off the wedding I think he figured she could just continue staying on, that COVID stuff would make the 90 day period stretch out more. When he realized that, no, unless she married she really WOULD have to leave, he agreed to marry her. That's the real reason she went back. He already knew this because of either reading he's done or his own lawyer had told him. The filmed lawyer was for our benefit. TL/DR: the credit card thing was real. The reason they returned, though, is because Mike had agreed to marry her to keep her in the US. I'm starting to think they broke up before she arrived.

That's where I am about the two. Natalie seems like she may have some legit mental health issues (or a personality disorder which, I know, is not the same). She's nuts but at least she comes by it honestly. Mike, however, seems to be intentionally manipulative.

That's what I said up above, too. I know old women on SSI who give half their checks to their church. The psychic was a con but the women's beliefs reminded me of millions of others'. People on 90 Day Fiance make fun of Mike for not being religious and believing that Aliens might exist. I don't see his beliefs any different from someone believing in most religious doctrines. To each their own.

I totally agree. My question, though, is where would she have gone? She literally couldn't return to Ukraine, that's why her ticket was to France. She was backed into a corner and he played on that. I hope they married and she flew the coop a month later. I hope she has US connections.

Hazel looked beautiful and Tarik seems to actually love her. Whatever happens from here on out AR least she's in a place where she can feel freer to be herself. NonJovi is a twat. The best thing about his segments is his daddy's Cajun accent. There's nothing wrong with a tacky Vegas wedding. Hell, in retrospect we'd have probably had more fun if that's what we'd done. However, if Yara is not in on the joke then that's not cool. The best thing about Rebecca's segment was Zied saying his hair was cute. Never change, dude. Brandon can kiss my ass. Is HE making a mistake? No. Is SHE making one? Most definitely. That said, she looked adorable on her wedding day. I loved the short, fluency dress and tennis shoes. Every bride should have their own style. I don't blame them for wanting a second ceremony so that they can invite friends and family. COVID dashed a lot of plans. The majority of K1 people do have a second one-first one at the courthouse and the second an actual traditional ceremony for friends and family. Many also return home for another one. My husband only had his parents and sister at our US one. 130 people and only 3 were there for him. I felt bad. We were going to do one in England, but money was too tight. If any of these people return to the motherland a la Libby and Andrei then TLC is most likely footing the bill. At least we know Brandon's house isn't an Air BnB. At this point I figure Mike should just marry Natalie to keep her in the US. The Ukraine border was closed. She literally couldn't travel back. They'd closed the airports there. For people saying she could've slept in the Seattle airport? No, she couldn't. We were there a day before she was meant to fly out and they were only letting you through the front door if your departure time was within 5 hours or less. This was WA in mud Aril-they were the epicenter at the time. Imo Natalie went back to Mike's because he agreed to marry her so that she could be here legally. He probably thought that because of covid she could just legally stay without the marriage. No, Mike, it doesn't work that way. And I swear to god that shrugging... He's the epitome of /niceguy That smug shrug and sigh made me ragey.

Ed is creepy AF. Am I the only one who thinks Molly's boyfriend pings?

That's why I never get rid of clothes! (It has nothing to do with being a hoarder...😉 )

He's fucking with her. It's not cool.

I like that look. (And I miss the 90s...) It's not like Julia's dress was super fancy. It was short with a flouncy skirt. The shoes worked.